


Out of The Sky Came The Sun

by thewillowwisps



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz, Homestuck
Genre: Here we go, Other, and as such she is my fav(tm), everyone's relationships taking a backseat to rich and jade's friendship, for many reasons, im tagging as i go, ive had this fic idea in my head for a while, mostly because my dorter jade deserved better, so like, viv u gotta trust me okaaayyyyy, which is v important to me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-11-28 09:05:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11414658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewillowwisps/pseuds/thewillowwisps
Summary: It was a bit of a surprise to be falling, especially considering her high level dog tier status. She was burning like a meteorite, green fire engulfing her senses in the wrong way, not unlike her tenure as Jadesprite. The Green Sun burned in the back of her eyes as she fell.The fic wherein jade falls into rich's backyard and things spiral out from there





	1. When the Sky failed to hold the stars up

**Author's Note:**

> I love my children, I love them interacting and theres nothing you can do to stop me

Jade hadn't been held down by much of anything in a long time, especially not gravity. All the powers she could ever need were held at her fingertips, so she never felt the need to walk. It was simply easier to fly or teleport to look after the world. On this night, her thoughts wandered back to her friends.

 

John had disappeared, off to travel somewhere new to have fun (and most likely prank people) without having to worry about being tied down by anyone. Jade understood, despite her brother's vague goodbye saying he would 'be off discovering things again.' That's just how he was, fickle as the breeze. Her mind switched over to Rose. Rose had occupied her time by disguising herself (with the help of Roxy) to become a noteworthy political figure in the hopes of gaining enough influence to be able to secure more stable and permanent funding for public libraries. Kanaya had also helped, by keeping Rose in line whenever her planning became too overzealous. After Rose, her mind floated to Dave. Dave was also traveling, but he had a reason. A bit of a vigilante, he had taken to tracking down neglectful and generally awful parents, and serving them 'that sick justice they deserve.' Jade smiled as she thought of the day.

 

That was so long ago.

 

She hadn't meant to push them away, honestly! She just needed _space_. That's what she was practically made of. The more she wanted to understand herself the farther away from her friends she felt. Which led her to where she was now.

 

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

 

She wondered if it was taking a long time to fall, or if her thoughts stretched time more than it actually passed. She hoped she would land soon.

 

Turns out hope is more powerful than she expected.

 

The contact with the ground was painful, her witch outfit having burned away, and her skin breaking on impact. A scream twisted and clambered out of her throat as her spine broke, her elbows contorting and removing themselves from their sockets. Tears spilled over and streaked her face, vision already blurry from her fractured and twisted glasses. However, through all the pain, she forced a smile on her face, struggling to keep her eyes open and tried to calm her breathing.

 

The soft glow of space creeped up into her vision before taking on a brighter neon glow as space flashed before her in a different way than it usually would, feeling everything cool and be healed. She wondered through all the fuzz if she would have scars from this.

 

Standing up, she took note of where she was. The crater she made was fairly small considering the magnitude of her fall, and she quickly set the area straight with the snap of her fingers. She was just about to leave when-

 

"What the fuck wath that." A voice stopped her in her tracks. She turned to see a boy, no taller than Dirk (who barely squeaked 5"5) with marks up and down his arms, and a confused look on his face. Jade noted the bruised eye, and stuck a mental purple and cherry red striped string on her hand to bring up to Dave later.

 

"Oh gosh, how much did you see?" Jade tried to channel her thirteen year old innocence despite already being sixteen and seeing more death than any normal kid should.

 

"I thaw you fall out of the sky, and I thaw you, do that freaky thhit with your body fixing itthelf, and I ethpecially thaw you _fix my fucking backyard by thnapping your fingers, and I kinda want an explanation._ " He had stepped forward and drew himself up to look intimidating, and Jade's mind flickered to when she and Dave faced off with Bec Noir on LOFAF. Dave had tried to put up the same 'strong' façade. Jade blinked and smiled, showing off her wolfish teeth. The boy stepped back at seeing the sharp fangs.

 

"There's an explanation, a really really weird and super duper long explanation, like, it would take seven years and retcon to explain. But, I mean, if you're willing, I'll absolutely talk!" Jade giggled to herself. I mean, technically the longest stretch of Sburb had been trying to get past the Yellow Yard, which was 3 years she had to burn waiting for the ship to crash into the Alpha session. But that's besides the point. He didn't know that.

 

Besides, he looked taken aback by what she had said. His eyes shifted to the ground, but he perked up.

 

"Thure! Thoundth interething." Oh. Okay then. Wasn't expecting that.

 

...

Silence stuck in the air, neither sure what to do. Awkward.

...

 

"I'm Jade by the way!" It burst out of her unexpectedly, much like trying to fill a water balloon and panicking when it explodes. She blinked and looked up, hoping she wouldn't have to point out the awkwardness of the situation.

 

"Rich. Uh, yeah." Sweet it was awkward. Jade sighed internally and opened her mouth to speak when Rich cut her off.

 

"Tho do you want to come into my houthe or?" Okay, marginally less awkward.

 

"Yeah!" They walked to the house, and Jade looked around, trying to drink in everything. It was a crowded room, but different from the way her rooms in her house were. There were stacks of _stuff._ That was probably the best way to describe it. Half empty boxes scattered around, with odd ends and bits shoved inside. Newspapers and cans littered the floor, and a few cracked bottles had been shoved into the corners. She tried not to dwell on it.

 

Rich had led her to the kitchen, and flipped the light on. It flickered, but was better than sitting in the dark. He got two glasses and filled them with water before setting one down in front of Jade. Her ears perked up, and she smiled at Rich.

 

"Tho uh, you can, thtart your thtory now." Jade took a sip from her glass before putting it back on the table.

 

And tell a story she did. It was super unorganized, the way she told it. She remembered things in kind of a messy order, constantly going back to different points and rambling quite a bit. She talked about Skaia and her dreamself, about her time on LOFAF and how she didn't wear a jacket despite how cold it was. She talked about Becquerel and exploring her island and her garden. She talked about the battlefield and how Jadesprite became a thing. She talked about Dave who helped her out, and how she died and fused with Jadesprite (definitely the most convoluted point in her life) and how she got her dog ears and powers due to the Green Sun. She didn't talk much about the three year trip that much. That time was filled with sadness and hollow memories. She moved on and talked about her tenure as a grimbark girl, and talked about Calliope and her trollsona and everything else she could remember. She finished by telling about the universe frog, and stepping through the door.

 

Throughout this endeavor, yawns became more and more prominent as she told the story, and Rich seemed to be slipping off to dreamland himself. Stretching, she got up.

 

"Holy thhit. That ith. Abtholutely inthane, but I can't really argue. I already did thee what you did. But fuck dude, that'th a lot." Rich yawned loudly and looked at the clock. It read 2:16 am.

 

"I'm going to thleep on the couch. You can thleep in my room." Rich shuffled down the hallway and showed Jade his room. Jade was too tired to argue or even make another bed appear. Besides, she was already wearing pjs. She flopped down on the bed and gave a muffled 'thanks' to Rich before passing out.

 

Rich closed the door and sighed. He was in some deep shit.


	2. There Is No Such Thing As Planning With Gods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She wasn't sure how to feel. Everything about the building made her twitch. She would've teleported away, but that would cause a scene. Instead she fidgeted with the many colourful rubber bracelets she had, each one decorated with a different squiddle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how else do you expect jade "raised isolated on an island by a dog and never told not to bite directly into fruits" harley to function in a school setting poor girl

Things that should be obvious, and yet were not realized until it actually occurs: sensitive doggy ears + alarm + morning was a recipe for disaster.

 

Of course, Jade flailed in the sheets as the demonic alarm continued its assault on her ears. She struggled to get on her feet as she became more tangled, and flopped to the floor unceremoniously, a huffy dog girl blanket burrito. She growled at the alarm and flattened her ears. She was still trying (and failing) to free herself from her cocoon of suffering when Rich walked in. She huffed indignantly and glared at Rich.

 

Rich doubled over laughing.

 

"D-do you, hOLY thhit, do you need h-help?" He struggled to speak, his own laughter dicing up his sentences. Jade drew out a low 'hhhhhhhhh' sound in response.

 

"Help would be nice!" Jade couldn't stay mad looking at Rich, a smile plastered on his face, clearly showing his tooth gap. Jade rolled her eyes and quirked a smile of her own.

 

Rich's laughter died down a bit, and he pulled the sheets away from the struggling girl. Jade scrambled up and stood triumphantly. She stretched, enjoying the sound of her back popping, and letting a yawn slip past her lips. Rich shook his head at how ridiculous she looked, her dress rumpled and her hair and glasses skewed in different directions.

 

"Why do you even have an alarm? You murdered my ears, you meanie." Jade huffed and patted her ears protectively. Rich laughed again.

 

"Becauthe I have thchool?" Rich answered simply. Jade adjusted her glasses and stared at him. School was a foreign concept to her, and she never could gauge properly what it was like. Dave didn't go to school, Rose was homeschooled, and John never talked about school (she highly doubted he would've gone anyway).

 

"Rich, I don't know how much of last night you processed, but I have no clue what school is like." Jade began threading her fingers through her long, thick hair. She had always meant to cut it, or at least abuse her powers to shorten the length, but the weight felt natural on her back and shoulders, and would probably grow it back out just as fast anyway. Her mental tangent caused her to zone out, and she was barely listening to Rich, instead focusing on a knot, increasing the space between the tangled threads and letting it fall away in her hands.

 

"-you could come with me?" Whatever the front half of the sentence was, it probably wasn't important. He was probably talking about school. So she just nodded.

 

"You're gonna have to wear thomething normal though. Nothing againtht your drethth, but the thchool would have a thit fit if they thaw you in it. Jutht thteal thomething from my clothet." Jade highly doubted that anything he owned would fit. She towered over him (she pushed 6"7, without meddling with her height by using her powers) and would most likely stretch anything she borrowed. No big deal, she could always bust out scribble modus. She was practically an expert after ~~spending 3 years alone on the ship and~~ using it so often.

 

Rich stepped out of the room to give Jade time to change, and decided to open his phone. He needed to text _someone_ , he just wasn't sure who. He'd decide when he get to that point. He scrolled through everyone's numbers and debated who to tell. Jeremy-definite no. He already had weird shit to deal with, and Rich doubted piling on 'space furry chick from the sky' would help. Actually, phrasing it that way might actually make things go in a weird direction fast. He moved on. Michael-still didn't know him well enough to try and communicate. Christine-loved her to death, but there's no way she'd believe the story as anything more than fiction. He debated back and forth with himself on who to message when his eyes landed on Jake. He could trust Jake. He felt a flutter in his chest and he sighed. Jake, the guy he was 'totally bi' for. He would tell him, but his own nervousness got ahold of him. He groaned and set his phone down.

 

He had it bad.

 

"What's got you down Rich?" He looked up and blinked at Jade. She most certainly wasn't wearing anything from his closet. Short black sleeves, with a blue dress layered over it. The skirt was ruffled, and she was wearing leggings. Looking down, her shoes had a cartoony design on them. He internally debated whether or not the outfit actually looked good.

 

"Nothing. You look... interethting." Probably the best way to describe it. Jade beamed at him.

 

"Thanks! I made this myself. Gotta look fierce, yknow?" She twirled, and the skirt flared out. She stopped and looked at Rich.

 

"Soooo, are we gonna leave or?" She quirked her head to the side, her dog-like habits showing through.

 

"Yeah, thure." Rich motioned for Jade to follow to the car, and she resisted checking the whole thing out. Her robotics knowledge poked her, and she shoved down the thought of taking the car apart and messing with it. She would've loved to make it run on uranium, but still had no way to keep the radiation in check, and wasn't going to risk it. Bodies are fragile after all.

 

Arriving at the school, Jade suddenly realized how far in over her head she was.

 

\-----

 

 _She wasn't sure how to feel. Everything about the building made her twitch. She would've teleported away, but that would cause a scene. Instead she fidgeted with the many colourful rubber bracelets she had, each one decorated with a different squiddle._ Rich had been introducing her to his friend group, but she couldn't focus. Her eyes darted and her breath sped up. This place was too closed off for her liking. She began to pick at her nails, trying to focus on the conversation. Someone-Michael?-was talking to her.

 

"-you okay?" Jade focused in. Her ears twitched slightly under her hair (she decided that her ears being visible might make things weird) and she looked at Michael.

 

"Oh, yeah! Just a bit disoriented." She laughed a bit, putting up her best 'I'm fine' attitude. For a moment Jade worried that Michael didn't believe it, but he nodded.

 

"What's on your bracelets?" A girl-Christine maybe-asked, eyeing the bright bracelets.

 

"Oh, they're squiddles! It's from a silly kid's show, but it's like, my childhood." Jade paused to see if anyone actually cared, and to her surprise, they all seemed curious.

 

"I don't think I've ever heard of squiddles. Can I get a rundown?" Michael responded, smiling. Jade's eyes lit up, and she described animatedly the story of squiddles, all 7 seasons.

 

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

\--------------

The first half of the day passed in a blur. Somehow, the classes were too easy (and yet impossible to comprehend). She never had to think to understand, so being forced to think out every step made her doubt herself. Still! Once she stopped thinking she breezed through it all.

 

She followed Rich to a table where everyone was sitting. She had already picked up on what they were talking about (bless her dog ears for that). They were talking about Jake's crush(? confirm later) on Rich. It switched very quickly as they approached. Dark blue green yarn wrapped around her pinkie in her head, so she'd remember it later.

 

"Thup heteroth." Rich said smugly as he sat down next to Jake. Michael looked offended, Christine confused, and the rest offended... except for Jake and Jeremy, who just looked uncomfortable.

 

"Hetero who Goranski, I'm gay as shit." Michael deadpanned before stuffing a piece of sushi in his mouth. Jeremy shifted in his seat, and Jake plastered a strained smile as he shot a look to Jade. Jade simply nodded back.

 

"Obviouthly to Jake and Jeremy. You two are the true outlierth of thith group, you know that right?" Rich said teasingly, lightly elbowing Jake and smiling.

 

"I'mactuallypanbutokay-" Was the first thing to come out of Jake. Everyone stopped. Jade gave a thumbs up, Strider-style. Rich actually fell out of his chair, causing Michael to burst out laughing.

 

"Thince when?" Rich wheezed, struggling to get up off the floor. Jade shook her head.

 

"Um, a while? I just never felt like coming out, haha..." He glanced off to the side, his laughter trailing off awkwardly.

 

"I'm also bi!" Jeremy burst out suddenly. Rich scrambled up and almost launched himself over the table for a high five. Michael's eyes were cracked wide open, looking at Jeremy like he was a zombie or something.

 

"So this is the 'coming out power hour'?" Jade quirked an eyebrow amusedly.

 

"At thith point, I'm pretty thure it ith." Everyone laughed, and Jade felt warm fuzzies in her chest. She actually felt included. Her worries from the morning had melted. For right now, the space she felt had disappeared. It was nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy fuk this chapter is l o n g
> 
> also I'm writing this at midnight fuck this i'll make the back half of the day the next chapter


	3. Garden of Friends and Other Sappy Shit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She felt utterly relaxed as Rich threaded his fingers through her hair, pulling the curly locks into a braid. The wind outside whistled by the window, and all was still.  
> And suddenly her computer pinged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I came up with this while my legs got murdered by swim practice  
> it's fluffy as shit so y e e t

The day was practically perfect, all and all. Jade breezed through the rest of her classes, and really had fun _connecting_ with people. She felt halfway close to normal. She had gotten everyone's number (and Michael's pesterchum, which Jade was surprised he had).

 

She stood on the steps waiting for Rich (she could've teleported, but honestly that was just rude) when she heard footsteps. She turned her head and saw Rich striding towards her, smile on his face.

 

"Well who flipped your giggle box?" Jade's mind flickered to a memory of her Grandfather saying it while she was a child, but she brushed it off to pay attention to what Rich was saying.

 

"Harley you thay the weirdetht thhit. Jake 'flipped my giggle box', ath you phrathed it." He put air quotes up and stuck his tongue out. Jade rolled her eyes and smiled back as they started walking to the car.

 

"Well, are you gonna tell me why, or leave me in the dark?" Rich's eyes lit up, and began explaining why Jake was 'thuper rad'.

 

"-and like, fuck, he jutht hath the cutetht thmile? Findth my lithp cool? Everything about him ith-"

 

"You're crushing on him right?" Jade has never been one to beat around the bush. Suddenly Rich dissolved into stutters and half explanations.

 

"Well, no-I mean, maybe? Fuck, it made more thenthe when I wath high ath fuck on hothpital drugth, and-" Jade cut him off again.

 

"Chill Godzilla, this isn't Tokyo City." John had said it to her once, and it stuck in her mind. Seemed appropriate.

 

"Uh, yeah, okay. I'm calm. Yeah, I have a cruthh on him. I'll probably die before I tell him. Tho yeah." Rich seemed embarrassed, staring at the ground.

 

"Well with that attitude yeah!" Jade huffed and looked at Rich.

 

"Jutht get in the car." Rich pouted. It reminded her of a toddler.

 

"Aaaaaeeennyway, I was wondering. Do you wanna see my house?" Jade decided switching topics was probably for the best.

 

"Uh, yeah, thoundth interethting!" Rich was probably still dwelling on the Jake thing (it was always a Jake thing when it came to the people in her life. Sigh).

 

They pulled up to Rich's house, and walked into his room. Jade got out her scribble modus.

 

"Tho like, what are you going to do?" Jade ignored him and focused on getting the details of LOFAF down. She picked the pen up, and a tiny LOFAF floated in front of her.

 

"Score! Here it is, the Land of Frost and Frogs." She tapped the top of the building, causing the planet to spin wildly in the air.

 

"No offenthe Jade but that'th tiny ath fuck." Rich had a look of doubt on his face.

 

"Oh trust me, here comes the cool part." Jade grabbed Rich's arm, and shrunk and teleported them to LOFAF.

 

It was akin to a sheet of water coming down. One moment: you feel fine, the next you feel everything come down, and then you feel normal again. Rich blinked and looked at Jade, curling his fingers to make sure they were still there. In the moment he felt all of space rush through him, and wondered if that was what she felt.

 

He would be lying if he said he never wanted to do that again.

 

Looking around, it seemed to be a forest area, with hummingbirds flitting past, but a majority were drawn to Jade. She smiled as they whirled around her. Pulling his eyes away from Jade, he noticed the white tower, in stark contrast to the mostly green world. Jade followed his gaze and nodded, starting to walk towards it. Rich struggled to keep up with her long strides.

 

Soon they arrived, and Jade walked up to the door. She paused for a moment, her hand ghosting over the Skaianet logo. The door slid open, and Rich followed her inside. Inside was a lot to take in. Every corner was filled with _stuff_. Various objects were displayed like trophies, and Rich couldn't decide what to focus on. Various trinkets and valuables coated every surface, glittering and showing off their worth. The jewelry in this room alone was probably worth thousands. He wasn't allowed to dwell on it, however, as Jade had slipped her hand into his and pulled him away from the room. They walked quietly through a corridor, footsteps echoing. Another room, this time with a platform in the center. Jade stepped on the platform and Rich followed suit.

 

"This might be weird!" Jade said cheerfully before a flash of white light (and the feeling of himself sliding out of his own body) hit him in quick succession. His legs wobbled.

 

"I thound like a broken record here but what the fuck." Rich held onto Jade for support as he struggled to stand again. Jade smiled and stepped off the platform.

 

"Skaianet tech! My grandpa had everything installed, so it's pretty nice. Convenient, yknow?" Looking around, it was Jade's bedroom. She practically launched herself onto the bed, destroying the precarious stack of plush squiddles that formed a mountain, but now had a Jade shaped dent in the middle. She sighed happily.

 

"You comfy there?" Rich quirked a brow. Jade picked up a squiddle-Princess Berryboo- and tossed it at Rich. He caught it easily and looked at it.

 

"Who'th thith?" The sew on smile and unblinking eyes stared soullessly at him. He turned the plush around before it freaked him out too much.

 

"Princess Berryboo! She's a mega drama queen, and loves slacking off. Her voice actor also had a change in Season 5 and I'm pretty sure I was the only one who noticed." Jade said matter-of-factly, and sat up.

 

"Have you ever braided someone's hair?" She tilted her head to the side, one of her ears following suit. Rich couldn't deny the puppylike quality of her face, and sighed.

 

"Yeah, Brooke taught me. Why?"

 

"Cause I want you to braid it. And stick flowers in it. The Earth C Snapchat will flip!" She said this, almost as though it was obvious, even though Rich probably wouldn't have known.

 

"Oh, okay then? I don't thee flowerth though." Rich glanced around the room and saw no flora decorating the room. Jade snapped her fingers and multiple different pots appeared in a flash of green, multiple kinds of flowers spilling over the edges of their respective pots. One that caught his eye was one that seemed to float above the pot, the petals connected at the sides, and being a striking orange.

 

"Now get over here and braid my hair you eggo." Jade said, patting the space next to her on the bed. Rich sighed and plopped down on the bed, causing Jade to bounce up and fall deeper into the plush pile. Rich offered a hand to pull her out, but she pulled him into the plush cave.

 

"Theriouthly?" Rich spoke under a squiddle (Brineswallow) and moved it away to look at Jade. She moved her own squiddle out of her face (Kiwimari) and smiled.

 

"Yes, seriously. This is comfy as fuck." She sat up and pulled Rich up as well. She turned her back to him and leaned her head back.

 

"Just watch the ears, okay?" She flapped her ears to prove her point. Rich rolled his eyes and started sectioning off her hair. There was just _so much of it holy shit_. He decided to make two giant braids, and stick the flowers in later. He wiggled his fingers, which had gotten stuck in a knot, and a light green glow came up and cleared it. He continued, separating the thick curls of her hair, making sure not to pull her hair too hard. Jade hummed in approval as he started the first braid. She felt utterly relaxed as Rich threaded his fingers through her hair, pulling the curly locks into a braid. The wind outside whistled by the window, and all was still.

And suddenly her computer pinged.

 

She teleported her computer over and pulled it open. Rose had sent her a message a few minutes ago (30 minutes is a few minutes right?) and Jade was about to respond when Rose's face popped up, requesting a video chat. Jade quickly answered, and Rose visibly relaxed.

 

"Jeezus Harley, you had me worried. I almost slipped out of my calculating persona in concern for your wellbeing and everything." Rose said smoothly.

 

"Aww, thanks Rose! What's up?"

 

"Well, I was talking with my representatives, Gill and GJ, and they were extremely helpful in strengthening my case for-"

 

"Ohhhh emmm geeeeee! Hayyyy Jade, how are you? We were all totes worried about you, you know." Roxy's face squished onto the screen, her neon pink smile plastered onscreen.

 

"Hi Roxy! I'm fine right now. Oh! Where's Kanaya?" Roxy backed up, Rose's face reappearing, and Kanaya's coming into view, smiling tentatively. She waved shyly.

 

"Anyway, as I was saying, I believe my case has been solidified, and presenting it to the Council will be extremely smooth going forward." Rose said, glaring at Roxy for interrupting her.

 

"Oh, cool! I'm sure you'll do well Rose, you always know what to do!" Jade replied cheerily.

 

"Rose, it's almost time to go." Kanaya fidgeted, clearly worried (she always worried. that was her thing).

 

"Oh, see you later Rose! Good luck!" Jade's mouse hovered over the 'end call' button, and Rose hung up. Jade closed her laptop.

 

"I uh, finithhed the braidth..." Rich spoke quietly, probably feeling awkward from listening in on the conversation. Jade turned around and smiled.

 

"Thanks! You did amazing." Jade said genuinely, flashing a huge smile. She got up and walked over to the floating flower that Rich was staring at earlier, and gently lifted it with her fingertips. It hovered above her hands, and she walked over to Rich. Rich looked confused, but Jade simply placed the flower on Rich's head, and it spun around before settling like a flower crown. Jade got her phone and took a picture, quickly posting it to the Earth C Snapchat. Notifications exploded almost immediately, but she put her phone away.

 

"Oh." Very eloquent Rich. Jade just smiled, and offered her hand to Rich.

 

"Let's go back to your house." He took her hand, and in a flash of green, Jade's room was empty.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> facts about this chapter:  
> -I kept getting distracted while making this f u c k  
> -the giggle box line actually comes from my 4th grade religion teacher bless her   
> -the original idea for this fic(in general) was jade crashing in and then rich braiding her hair   
> -I wanted to include jasprose and/or davepeta but was like "nah"  
> -the chill gozilla line is all me, I came up with it one day kdfnjd  
> -I discovered a new music band to add while writing (animusic)  
> -I actually dug around the squiddles wiki to name the one jade throws. yeet  
> -at the point of the squiddles, it was close to 2am, and I was eating a nature valley crunch bar and listening to there!right there on repeat  
> -you can tell where the exact moment my salt over snapud8s stopping crops up  
> -I got distracted again fu ck   
> -I think the tiredness of writing at 2am tempted me to end this chapter with them conking the fuck out in the squiddle pile  
> -gill and gj are the names of the two rad people behind tlcstuck go check it out if u didn't like the canon ending or how far back the retcon went timeline wise  
> -the longer I write the more typos I keep having to fix  
> -I want to sleeb but I gotta finish the chapter  
> -i'll include more in the morning fuckit  
> -thank u for reading


	4. Paradis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jade stared at the clouds drifting by, wondering if it was worth it to mess with their shape. She decided against it, opting to sink further into the tiled roof, letting the tiles poke her back and ribs.  
> Then her phone started buzzing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the title of this chapter is actually a song by wintergatan! it's p rad tbh
> 
> also I accidentallied and fell asleep instead of writing early so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ some of the stuff I wanted in the previous chapter went out the window (rest in piece unless I can stick it somewhere else)

It was the weekend, the holy grail of relaxation and avoiding school work for kids stuck in the ever-turning wheels of the public education system. Fortunately for Jade, she already did it all. So she was wasting time sitting on the roof and watching the clouds drift by. The tiles of the roof dug into her back, but she didn't bother moving. It was whatever. The shapes were becoming blurred and uninteresting.

 

Jade stared at the clouds drifting by, wondering if it was worth it to mess with their shape. She decided against it, opting to sink further into the tiled roof, letting the tiles poke her back and ribs.  
Then her phone started buzzing.

 

She sat up, pushing her glasses back onto her face, and blinked to try and read the contact name better.

It was Dirk.

 

She quickly picked up and Dirk's voice crackled through the speaker.

 

"We have a situation Harley."

 

"What's up?"

 

"The details are pretty fucked, but to give you the basic bitch information: the tiaratop reactivated and Jane is currently signed off to psycholand."

 

"How could the tiaratop reactivate? The server it ran on isn't even accessible anymore."

 

"Thought so too. Turns out some fucko started running supercomputers of their own on the same server."

 

"So why are you calling me? Shouldn't Roxy be the one dealing with this? She's the hacker here."

 

"Roxy's gone AWOL, probably doing voidy shit without telling anyone. She's radio silent, and since you're the strongest out of all of us, I need you to take down Jane before shit gets fucked."

 

"Gosh, when you put it like that it sounds pretty awful. I'll take care of it!" Jade stood up, quickly switching to her witch outfit (might as well get dressed up for the occasion right?).

 

"Just don't do anything too heroic Harley. I know how you are- just stay safe okay?" Dirk's voice sounded genuine, and Jade looked at her phone.

 

"Yeah! Don't worry." Dirk hung up, and Jade shot a text to Rich, telling him that she'd be downtown to meet a friend.

 

\--------

 

Rich was flipping through channels idly- his dad was out doing God knows what, and besides Jade, he basically had the house to himself. He landed on a news channel. It was reporting live about someone who was wreaking havoc downtown- apparently "mind controlling" several hostages, and even "bringing them back from the dead like nothing". He rolled his eyes at the over exaggeration of whatever story they were covering. Leave it to the news to make everything sound dramatic. His phone buzzed, and he found himself sitting up faster than anyone should once he read it.

 

From Jade:

im gonna be going downtown to meet a friend :D i'll be back as soon as possible though!!! don't worry about it

 

He looked back at the tv. Everything connected and he rushed to his car.

 

\------

 

Whatever Jade was expecting, it certainly wasn't this.

 

Road blocks had been skewed in every direction, and Jane made use of her strength to make a ridiculous car pile, stacked like a cake. Talk about extra. Looking around, she noticed something wrong. Very very very wrong. Rich's friends (still not her friends, she reminded herself) were all sitting casually among the wreckage, seemingly unaware of the chaos around them.

 

This was a setup. _Might as well play along right?_

 

"Jeremy? Jake? What's going on?" She called out. They didn't move.

 

"JADE! FUCK, THTOP, YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Oh no. Oh no no no nononono no this wasn't supposed to happen he wasn't supposed to be here fuck fuck fuck.

 

"I need to get out of here? Rich, you shouldn't even be here!" Turned around, guard down.

 

Suddenly, Jane was in front of Rich. Suddenly, Rich was in the air. Suddenly, a giant-ass fork was being pointed at Rich. Suddenly, this situation became infinitely worse than before.

 

Panic hit her brain so quickly she didn't even think- she couldn't have remembered- she could've snapped her fingers and teleported him somewhere safe.

 

If only she had remembered.

 

Red red red there was so much red _fuck why do people bleed so much._

 

Any plan Jade could've had was lost. She held Rich as tightly as she could, shaking and crying. This wasn't supposed to happen.

 

Blue glow surrounded him- Jane's healing. He was suspended in the air. Jade blinked through the tears and looked at Jane.

 

"I am going to heal him, but you'll need to surrender Jade. It's that simple." Jane said simply, her hand still holding Rich in the air.

 

Jade looked at Rich, floating helplessly in the air. Then the blood on her hands. Rich's blood was on her hands.

 

"If, you let everyone else go, including Rich, I'll do it." Sorry Dirk.

 

"Pleasure doing business with you Jade!" She said cheerfully.

 

Suddenly, something cool and metal wrapped around her neck and everything went black.

 

\-----------

 

Rich was dead- not how he expected to go honestly. Getting forked in a literal sense was not on the agenda.

 

And then he wasn't. That was the confusing part. All he saw was blue and then he was breathing again. When he was breathing again, the first thing he heard was screaming.

 

He honestly thought it was his own, but as the blue faded away, he saw Jade.

 

Jade was on the floor, writhing and convulsing, her hands desperately clawing at her neck. Tears were pouring out her eyes and she was close to foaming at the mouth, struggling against something.

 

And then she wasn't. Rich didn't even have time to think of helping her, because she suddenly went still. A neon green echo of her still body flashed, and green ripples of lightning started jumping off her. She stood up, back facing Rich.

 

Something was very very wrong.

 

"J....Jade?" His voice wobbled. She turned around and something was very very very fucking wrong.

 

Her skin had taken on an impossible shade of cool grey. Her hair seemed more wild, sticking out at all the wrong angles and green electricity was threaded through them, occasionally jumping out from the fuzz of hair. Her teeth seemed bulkier, fangs more prominent than Rich felt comfortable with. Her eyes had seemingly bugged out, fully open. That was unnerving. There was also a slight glow to her eyes.

 

She was menacing as all hell.

 

And the worst part? She didn't even respond. She just smiled impossibly wide, revealing more teeth that almost certainly weren't sharp before.

 

Then he noticed the collar. It was slick black, almost like obsidian, with faint green lines running through it. That had to be it.

 

But there was no in hell he could do anything about it.

 

His shoulders slumped.

 

He was in some deep shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh shit cliffhanger


	5. All Was Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had to be dreaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> forgive me
> 
>  
> 
> also the chapter title is from wintergatan again o^o  
> hc that rich deals with trauma thru laughter n jokes yall
> 
> this chapter feels short mmmmmmmmmmm

He had to be dreaming. Yeah, that was it! There was no way this was happening. Everything was fine.

 

He watched Jade teleport away. It wasn't happening of course, so he just laughed. Someone was pulling him away, but he couldn't stop laughing. Tears were rolling down his face, but he barely registered. He curled into the arms of whoever was carrying him. One thing he did notice, though, was that nothing in the area where he was had been damaged. Which just confirmed to him that it wasn't happening. He'd go back and Jade would still be on the roof. And everything would be okay.

 

He didn't notice himself passing out.

 

\-------

 

Jade woke up in her atrium. Looking around the room, everything was in place. The sky outside was blue, meaning she had passed out again.

 

She was suddenly compelled to play her flute, so she picked it up and noodled around. She wasn't very good at flute, which made her question why she picked it up in the first place. She considered throwing it down in disgust, but she simply captchalouged it.

 

She took the bag of fertilizer and generously poured them on the plants around the room, and captchalouged the bag too. It felt like deja vu, but she shrugged it off.

 

Looking at her colorful reminders, she stared at her fingers, expecting (why would she be expecting) to find a bright blue string on her index finger, which was supposed to remind her that John's birthday was today.

 

There wasn't.

 

Her fingers were noticeably blank, with only two strings on her fingers. One was striped purple and cherry red (like Dave's red!) on one finger, and a dark blue-green string on her pinkie.

 

Confusion clouded her head. She couldn't remember- how come she couldn't remember why they were important! Colorful reminders were supposed to _help dammit._

 

She hit the floor again, and was sleeping before she could think more about the reminders that replaced all her other ones.

 

\-----------

 

Rich woke up in his own house. He sat up, and looked around. Jake was sitting, bouncing his leg nervously. He looked up and relief flooded his eyes. He rushed over and hugged Rich tightly.

 

"Rich! I'm so glad you're okay. I thought she hurt you dude." She? Was Jake talking about Jade? He couldn't be. Jade wouldn't hurt him.

"What're you talking about bro?" He pushed Jake away to look at him (Rich would've enjoyed the hug longer but he was worried).

 

"Jade uh- she was. Dark. I thought I was going to lose you man, she was so close to you- I thought she was gonna-" Jake was crying now. Rich held his face and wiped away the tears (he would panic about this later, now was the time to comfort Jake).

 

"Dude....."

 

"Bro......"

 

Jake's face suddenly turned bright red and he twisted away. Rich's hands dropped to his sides, a blush heating up his face as well.

 

Michael crashed into the room, wheezing and gasping.

 

"GuYS JEREMY HAD A FURRY BO-" A hand suddenly clapped around his mouth as Jeremy wrestled him to the ground.

 

"SHUT UP MICHAEL!" Jeremy let out a squeak of surprise as Michael suddenly flipped their positions, and Jeremy was squirming on the ground.

 

"Get a room you two. Theriouthly." Rich stated as the two boys wrestled on the ground.

 

Suddenly a phone buzzed. Everyone froze.

 

They checked their phones, but none of them had notifications. Rich looked at the dresser. On the top sat a bright green phone, with a small white dog key chain. Rich lunged at it and unlocked it, struggling to focus on the message.

 

From Petters:

 

B33c yo youre on the news whud up

 

Rich quickly typed back.

 

To Petters:

 

thiss issn't jade but yea sshe'ss on the newss sshe went dark

 

From Petters:

 

B33c grimbark?....... oh shit i'll be over soon

 

Soon is apparently soon. Because one moment later a bright orange and green person (alien?) thing has crashed into the room.

 

"Yo." Their voice was layered, a smooth country accent mixed with a sweet catlike voice.

 

"Tho uh, now what?" Rich asked quietly.

 

"Now I get my datemate back, duh!" Bright orange blinks, and suddenly they were right behind Jade.

 

Rich stumbled back, and found himself rolling down a hill. He shook his head and saw they were on the outskirts of town. Davepeta had their claws out, and they flutter their wings. Jade turned around and smiled.

 

"Hiya!" Her tone was overly cheerful. Her collar glowed green.

 

Davepeta lunged at the collar, but before they could even touch the collar, Jade had teleported behind and grabbed their wings. Davepeta squawked and struggled to get free. Green fire surrounded them, and they were lifted into the air, flailing helplessly. Suddenly Jade threw her hand down and Davepeta was in the ground, before being lifted again. Jade used her free hand to teleport The Green Sun Street Sweeper into her hand. One shot crackled out.

 

Davepeta was thrown against the wall.

 

The crater, strangely enough, had the cracks form something similar to wings. The flashes between orange and green slowed, and bright liquid slowly pooled beneath them. Their glasses were cracked.

 

Rich looked up, and saw Jade staring back at him.

 

Ice shot through his veins. He just watched Davepeta get shredded by Jade, and there was nothing stopping her from killing him. He started shaking. She raised her hands, green lightning crackling dangerously off her hands. Then she suddenly spasmed, her collar glowed bright green and she went rigid.

 

A flash of green, and he fell onto the floor of his room.

 

He quietly crawled into his bed, and went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cant believe davepeta is fucking dead


	6. We Were Blinded By The Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And just like that. She collapsed to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ROXY MAKES AN ENTRANCE!!!!!!!!!
> 
> also she talks the way she types and the way she speaks are obnoxiously similar, so u can tell the difference when she's saying "are" and "R"
> 
> also!!!  
> tw for blood, scars and some self harm  
> I hurt the child p bad this chapter

When Jade woke up again, she was upstairs. She didn't understand, but chalked it up to Becquerel teleporting her up to her room. Sighing, she pulled out her lunchtop. Many many many missed messages, the ones from Rose being at the top. She sighed and was about to open up the messages when she felt a burning sensation across her back and wrapping around her neck, suffocating her. She blinked and turned around, seeing her back on fire. She put a hand to her neck and felt cool metal against her fingertips.

 

And then everything was black again.

 

\----------------

 

Weeks of nothing. No reports from anywhere of Jade. It was driving Rich insane. The paranoia was setting in, and it seeped into his classes. Constantly tapping on whatever surface was available. Jumping whenever something in the corner of his eyes moved. The group decided it was time to do something.

 

"We're worried about you Rich." Christine started.

 

"Yeah, seriously. You've been out of it. We noticed." Jake stared intensely at him. Rich looked away.

 

"Correction, Jake noticed and bothered us about it." Jenna said, not looking up from her phone. Jake elbowed her.

 

"You guyth are imagining thingth. I've been fine, thee?" Rich pulled himself up and made eye contact with Jake, before immediately breaking eye contact so he didn't get flustered.

 

"Rich, don't bullshit me here-" Jake stepped forward but Jenna pulled him back. Jenna was looking past Rich, and shrugged.

 

"Let him go Jake." Jenna spoke coolly. Everyone stopped. Jenna's voice had a certain pull to it when it was like that. Rich smiled gratefully, and walked away.

 

"What the fuck Jenna? You aren't blind, you know he's fu-" Jenna held up a hand, effectively stopping Jake's oncoming tirade.

 

"Just trust me, okay?" Jenna offered a smile. Jake just scowled. 

 

\----

 

Rich wasn't sure where he was going, but he slipped behind the corner into a shaded part, where the stoners usually hung out. But today, they were all mysteriously gone. Rich looked around, unsure if he was in the right place.

 

"Stoners R easier to bribe than cats, omg. Like, they all scattered n shit when I told them about those famous Crocker brownies now came with weed. They R gonna be in a CVS for a while tbh." A girl stood in the darkest corner, leaning casually. She held something green in her hands, which she was twisting casually.

 

"No offenthe, but who are you?" Rich had stepped back. She suddenly dropped the thing in her hands, and it bounced to his feet. It was a cube with slightly rounded edges. Rich wasn't sure what to make of it.

 

"Omg, did Jade seriously not talk about me? Frowny face. I thought we were science buds n shit. I'm Roxy." She held out a hand, fingerless gloves and shiny black nail polish coming into view. The name Roxy did sound familiar. He reluctantly accepted the hand, and the girl came into light. She had solid black lipstick, and a half-smile on her face. Her eyebrow was quirked in a way that overall made her face similar to that of the DreamWorks face.

 

"Rich. Uh, why are you here?" He let go and try to memorize more details, eventually catching her eyes. Neon pink. Okay then.

 

"I'm hunting Crocker. I assume you've got Harley on your mind? Might as well team up." Rich considered it. He was only human, and Roxy (according to his memory) was as powerful as the other kids Jade knew. This was his chance.

 

"The last perthon to try and confront Jade ended up half-dead and thtuck in the wall." His mind flashed to Davepeta. Yikes.

 

"Yah, but here's the thing. You cannot try to take down Jade thru sheer force of will, unless your name is Jake English and the universe has cursed you to not wear pants. Point is, I'm gonna approach this from the technology side of this. And it just so happens I am the greatest haxxor bitch Paradox Space has ever seen." Roxy spoke with confidence.

 

"Tho you want to?" Rich wasn't completely registering the plan she was proposing.

 

"I want to absolutely trash the server that Harley's collar, Jane's tiaratop and whatever supercomputer is also involved. Yknow?" She quirked a smile.

 

"Thoundth like a plan to me." Rich had hope. And maybe that was the most important part.

 

\--------------

Rich was starting to wonder if this would work. Then Jade appeared, Jane behind her.

 

Okay. Maybe this would work out.

 

"I knew I smelled him, Jane." Jade snarled, fixing her eyes on Rich. He shrunk away.

 

"Yes. I granted you permission to track him down. Are you happy now?" Jane deadpanned in response.

 

And suddenly they both spasmed. The tiaratop snapped and Jane collapsed. Roxy was there in an instant, phasing through Jade (and taking her collar in the process) and catching Jane.

 

Jade looked so peaceful, sprawled on the floor. No anger was etched on her face. He scooped her up.

 

"Let's go home." He whispered to her.

 

\-------------

 

Jade woke up. For real. Not just the warped memories of her 13 year old self. She was in Rich's room. Everything she did flooded back, and suddenly she couldn't breathe. She shouldn't _be here she doesn't deserve to be here fuck fuck fuck_ -

 

She teleported to her room. More specifically, her bathroom. She stared back at her own, tearstained reflection. She didn't know why, but she dumped her witch outfit. She could clearly see the burn marks left by the collar wrapped around her for (how long she couldn't remember how long) and she shook her head, continuing her self inspection. Twisting, large burn marks wrapped around her back, the puffy skin reminding her of her fall. She glanced at her stomach, a long scar dragged over it. She flashed back to when it happened, but shoved the thought aside. She instead looked for something, _anything_ , to distract her.

 

A pair of scissors.

 

She grabbed them, and started cutting her hair. Wildly, desperately, uneven. Her hands were shaking, the scissors jabbing her wrist as she held fistfuls of hair to cut. Blood from her right wrist was starting to drip but her frenzy wasn't done. Her hands shook more and more, her breathing becoming erratic.

 

Then she screamed and dropped the scissors. Her hands. Were practically vibrating. She looked at herself. Tears had burned their way onto her cheeks, pouring freely and rolling down past her neck, highlighting the scar. Her ear was cut about an inch in. It looked wrong. Everything about her looked wrong wrong wrong.

 

She looked awful.

 

Like a doll sewed up one too many times. The hair at her feet sat heavily around her.

 

She turned on the sink, putting her shaking right hand under it. The water turned pink.

 

She had fucked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry
> 
> also my outline for this chapter included the note "the isolation of Harley b e g i n s" so strap tf in yall


	7. Avoidance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She wasn't used to it, not like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> t h e   
> i s o l a t i o n  
> o f  
> h a r l e y  
> b e g i n s

Avoidance.

She didn't usually avoid problems. She faced everything head on. She never backed down.

 

She never backed down.

 

She never backed down.

 

The more she told herself, the more she seemed to shrink.

 

Literally.

 

More and more her height seemed to slip away, and she got shorter and shorter the more she looked in the mirror. She didn't care. She coughed, pink (why was it pink) electricity jumping around her. She sighed, taking note of all her flaws. Her lips were too puffy, her eyes glassy and washed out - like the green had been pulled from it, leaving only ghostly whispers of what the original color was. She took her glasses, hoping it would help. The shine on her glasses masked the discoloration of her eyes, and she smiled. The points of her canines had been shrunk to a normal level, her bucktooth remaining intact despite everything. Her hair was short - too short to use in any way to hide her ears when she went out into the real world.

 

If, she went out into the real world.

 

Sighing again, she moved into her room, digging into the back of her closet. She pulled out a beanie (the one she stole from Dave) and considered it. It would cover her ears. She threw it on her bed before continuing the dig through her closet. She pulled out more clothes, none of them being the usual cheery colors. Muted reds. ~~All of it was stuff she made from Dave's things scattered around his apartment, made in everlasting boredom and a willingness to test the alchemization system.~~ She pulled on the sweater - cherry red - and after a moment she also pulled on the sweater vest, smiling at the way the colors looked together. She pulled on the black corduroy pants, white socks, crawled into her bed, pulling the covers over and she felt safe.

 

She finally decided to check her phone, ignoring texts from concerned friends of Rich (still not her friends. at this point none of them would be) and noticed the several missed calls from Dirk.

 

And a single message from Michael, from pesterchum. She realized he hadn't sent a text, but just a message on pesterchum.

 

It was nice, something familiar, something she could handle.

 

She shifted on the bed to be more comfortable, and messaged him back.

 

\---------------------

 

After much coaxing from Michael, Jade had mental worked herself up into a spot where she could go to school.

 

She never promised that she'd talk to anyone.

 

She wasn't sure if anyone recognized her anyone, her drastic changes to her appearance. Barely standing above 5"6, short hair, beanie, practically melting into the walls as a patch of red among the dull off color white.

 

No one would've noticed her.

 

Except for Rich.

 

Rich, Rich, sweet, genuine, honest Rich. He paid attention. To how she seemed to zone out, or not move her head often. How her ears occasionally twitched underneath her beanie. He noticed her flinching whenever someone spoke, the glassiness never truly leaving her eyes. He noticed all of it, and tried to catch her.

 

He tried so fucking hard.

 

But she always slipped away, like nothing.

 

Jade believed she was nothing.

 

She felt emptiness, different and wrong. Before, the felt the emptiness of the space between stars, but now? She felt nothing. The vast, overwhelming nothing. With one anchor. The Sun.

 

It wasn't _her_ sun. It wasn't green, the one that filled her with energy, with power. It was pink and too bright and made her exhausting. The power flowed through her differently, like a ocean current, threatening to rip her feet from her. It seeped into bones, chilling them and making her muscles ache. Her eyes became sensitive to light, which she darkened the lens of her glasses to compensate.

 

In any case, Rich wasn't going to get to her easily.

 

That was the thing, you couldn't find it if you tried to seek it. That wasn't the nature of the sun that had pinned her wings.

 

It came for you.

 

So she sat and slipped out of Rich's grasp, like a game of cat and mouse.

 

Rich caught her arm.

 

"Jade, I-" He couldn't finish his sentence as pink flashed, leaving a brief imprint of where Jade _had_ been. Pink scuff marks were on the floor, reaching out from the center like vines.

 

Jade didn't want to be saved, and even if she was, it wasn't going to be now.

 

\----------

 

Rich had chased her for weeks. He worried over Jade, and where she had gone. When Michael had broken through and gotten a response from Jade, he had broken down crying, a caffeine crash hitting him as he unabashedly sobbed. Jake had been there, but it was blurry. He fell asleep cradled in his arms.

 

That didn't matter now.

 

Halfway through, he questioned why.

 

Why did he care so much about Jade?

 

Was it even a question, or just a reminder for him about the answer?

 

He cared about Jade, about the girl who fell from the sky, surrounded by the sun with a spark in her eyes. He cared about the girl who laughed and teleported everything and cared too much about her garden and got huffy at disappearing pumpkins and the girl he braided the hair of and the girl who smiled and put a crown on him and smiled.

 

He missed Jade. And he was gonna get her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> notes:  
> -so i believe that each kid has 2 aspects; their main, and their secondary, which is what they usually gravitate to towards the beginning of the comic  
> -jade's gravitation would be toward light and space(in that order) so when she inverses it becomes void and time. she's stuck in a spot like she's 13 again, but 2 steps back from being close to herself  
> -the pink means things if u evr read bladekindeyewears theory(if i can find it; and if I'm remembering the right theorist)  
> -can anyone catch the john mulaney reference i made  
> -not sure if i like this chapter but i don't think i can find the willpower to rewrite it  
> -it's not even late at night but I'm tired  
> -comment ur favorite fruit


	8. Cat and Mouse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She couldn't keep running.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we mcfuckin go my dudes

She couldn't keep running.

 

That was the implication of a cat and mouse game, wasn't it?

 

Eventually the mouse was caught.

 

She couldn't rely on her powers, the ones she was leeching from the Pink Sun. Her teleporting was less and less accurate. She was getting less and less sleep. Everything hurt.

 

Point is, shit's about to go. Down.

 

Jenna heard from Jake who was told by Rich, that no matter what happens, to just back him up.

~~Gay.~~

So it's the end of school, and since Jade hadn't been teleporting away as much (instead opting to wander around until she reached her safe haven, the small secluded area where she had set up the planets.

 

Not today.

 

Rich had grabbed her as soon as she stepped onto the sidewalk, the arm that still had scars on it. Jade stopped, but didn't squirm as to not irritate the cuts that hadn't healed. She couldn't teleport.

 

She was tired.

 

"Jade, pleathe, fuck, let me talk to you." His voice was raw. Pain was laced at the edges, sadness seeping into every syllable.

 

Her shoulders slumped.

 

"Let's go home." Her voice sounded wrong, like it wasn't really hers and she wasn't really there.

 

And then she was in his room. Wasn't sure how she got there. It just seemed to happen. It wasn't like teleporting, no rush of power before appearing somewhere. It was like disconnecting for a moment, and then appearing somewhere. Rich handed her a mug, warmth curling around her fingers as she sipped the tea inside.

 

"I've never really, like, talked about my feelingth, tho thith ith gonna be weird." Rich said, glancing off to the side.

 

"I never had the time. I mean, how could've I had the time? I had so much more important things to do, yknow? I couldn't've stopped. Everyone was relying on me, I _needed_ to be there for everyone. If I stopped to think about myself, well fuck, that would be _so selfish of me_ right? If I stopped, I don't think I could ever pick back up all of me and start back up. And Jadesprite, _fucking Jadesprite_ , I hated her! I hated how passive she was, how she refused to do anything, how she just sat there and cried and cried about how she missed her friends and I NEVER understood her. How the fuck could she just stand there and let shit happen? _There is still something worth fighting for!_ I couldn't, wasn't, able to understand. But that's the thing. I AM JADESPRITE. I'm all of her, I'm her sadness and her selfishness and her empathy and I want to be with my friends but I cant go back I'm too far gone. The more and more I tried to understand space the more like space I was so when I reached out I was light years away. And the trip, _god the three years in hell I spent,_ I had nothing. I was nothing I couldn't do anything I was stuck I couldn't garden, I couldn't do the one thing that made me happy. I'd sit there and let myself starve until I resurrected because I had nothing else to do. I fought with Jasprose until I was just sushi because _there was nothing else I could do_. I didn't want to exist and the only reason I'm sitting here is because I cant fucking die. I didn't even want to see my friends when I got there. None of them would understand, how could they understand? They had each other to support, to help them be better. I don't think I'm better. I'm just, the same. Nothing about me has changed because I'm just space and no matter how much I change the rules I'm still just me. I've always been, just me-" The more she talked the more tears built up, rolling down her face.

 

She was shaking, her sobs wracking her body. Her mug had long been discarded, and she couldn't breathe. She was hiccupping and wheezing, her nails digging into her arms as she held herself. Finally confronting herself. The terrifying notion of being had hit her. Suddenly arms had wrapped around her, pulling her into a bear hug.

 

Her shaking slowed considerably, her hands stopping their assault as she focused on the hug. She didn't need any sun to anchor her, the hug was her lifeline. Her arms were still too shaky to return the hug, but slowly her heart slowed and the tears slowed down.

 

She saw that Rich was also crying, and rested her head on top of his, wrapping her arms around him. He wasn't shaking nearly as bad as she had been, but the tears were still evident.

 

Everything ached. But not the way the Pink Sun had. She was just tired.

 

She ran her fingers through Rich's hair, fidgeting with the ends before continuing threading her fingers through his soft hair. She hummed quietly, the piano track that John had sent her forever ago. The simple melody resonated with her, and also in her ribs, drawing a calming effect into the room.

 

They fell asleep, hugging each other. Neither of them were gonna let go.

 

For one moment, despite everything, despite every mistake they made.

 

All was well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> notes!  
> -I hadn't planned on the chapter going this way but then one of my close mutual(one of my first mutuals actually) made a post saying they were logging off tumblr for personal reasons, which I super understand, but it pushed me into a mental spot where I could write jade's huge rant  
> -speaking of jade's rant theres a lot of details I had to leave out bc that paragraph is a beast to try and read through  
> -the comfort has arrived btw  
> -comment ur fav cryptid bc why not  
> -this chapter feels short f u c k

**Author's Note:**

> :0 I cant believe u made it this far
> 
> idk how many chapters this will have


End file.
